E-DRUG: Big pharma, essential medicines and Africa's sick
-----------------------------------------------
[A group of African journalists, the Forum for African Investigative
Reporters (FAIR), have written some stories about the role of the
pharmaceutical industry, and problems around essential and quack
medicines in Africa. The stories have been bundled into a report, which
is available in English and French at:
http://www.fairreporters.org/?showcontent_home&global[_id]=928
Below a summary of the book by one of the writers. WB]
Governments and pharmaceutical industry do little to nothing to
improve access to medication for African sick
A Transnational Investigation into acces to medication in Africa found
that the sick themselves are cheated and lectured, whilst 'Big Pharma'
head offices in Washington, Geneva, London and elsewhere do not feel
pressure to improve a situation in which tens of thousands continue to
die daily of treatable diseases.
The 'TI' into access to medication in Africa was carried out by the
Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR).
Amongst the FAIR team's findings were:
* Hundreds of thousands Congolese men, women and children
suffering from malaria can not afford the malaria tablets sold in the
DRC by Belgian company Dafra Pharma and promoted by top health
officials.
* In Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, every
hour ten HIV+ people die, whilst many could have stayed alive with
the help of new anti retroviral medicines (ARVs) and essential
fungicides made by Gilead and Janssen-Cilag. Despite years of
promises, these big pharmaceutical companies have failed to register
their drugs to make them available in most African countries.
* Merck Sharp & Dome and Abbott are accused of unfair
competition practices in South Africa.
* When the ARV Viracept, made by Roche, was recently
recalled, twenty thousand Africans on treatment saw their lifeline
interrupted, with possibly fatal consequences. Roche claimed it has
been adequate in providing information, but refused to take
responsibility in furnishing a replacement - although alternatives
were available.
* The major pharmaceutical Novartis went through great
lengths to try and patent its drug Gleevec in India. Had it succeeded,
many generic versions of medicines would have been blocked from
reaching Africa and other poor parts of the world.
The FAIR team found that the large pharmaceutical companies hold on to
a policy of protecting their patents, high prices and corresponding
huge profits in spite of advertised commitment to fight Aids and other
diseases in Africa. Meanwhile, 'Big Pharma' continues to benefit from
protection in the countries where their headquarters are. Promises
made at the 2001 Doha conference of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), where member countries undertook to relax patent rules so that
developing countries could import cheaper generic medication instead
of expensive brands, have so far not materialized. Instead, a mainly
US-based lobby linked to the pharmaceutical industry continues to
pressurize African governments to buy patented drugs.
As a consequence of this situation, millions of Africans in despair
rely on quack remedies such as pesticide injections, Chinese vitamins
that result in kidney damage, and a plethora of immune boosters
advertised to 'cure' Aids. Quack peddlers were found in all the
countries investigated by the FAIR team: South Africa, Zambia, Kenya,
Malawi and the DRC. In each of these five countries, FAIR also found
that deaths had resulted from abandoning treatment in exchange for a
'wonder' cure.
The FAIR team found no indications of measures by African governments
and/or the pharmaceutical industry to counter the quack cure
propaganda. Consequently, even highly educated people relied on these
often costly 'miracle drugs'. FAIR found journalists, lawyers, Members
or Parliament and even medical doctors taking or promoting them,
adding to the belief that they help. In Kenya, foreign and local herb
sellers have become so powerful and well-to-do that they sponsor radio
shows on illnesses and treatment, advertising their own products.
Strategies to break the monopoly of Big Pharma and their expensive
brand cures seem to depend largely on the pressure issued by civil
society groups to allow the production of generic versions of
essential drugs. Research and programmes by international institutions
have, however, placed almost full responsibility on the shoulders of
the sick themselves. Communities and individuals in Africa have been
surveyed, tested and researched; they have been interrogated about
their beliefs, their cultural practices, eating habits, hygiene, their
sex life, their 'success' in adhering to treatment and their 'Aids
awareness'.
In contrast, little research has been done on the level where life and
death decisions are made: in Washington DC, USA, where the mighty
industrial pharmaceutical industry lobby resides; in the offices of
the European governments and the international donors and lending
institutions.
The FAIR team found that the only way concessions from the side of
'Big Pharma' have come about, has been through pressure brought on
this industry by activist groups and NGOs.
But, the investigative reporters conclude, with the situation as
desperate as it is, the weight of higher authorities - like
governments, the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations will
have to be added if a turning point is to be achieved.
See for the Transnational Investigation dossier (available in English
and French):
http://www.fairreporters.org/?showcontent_home&global[_id]=928
To contact FAIR, email facilitator@fairreporters.org